30 March 2013

Ok, another request to review
for a friend. However there is a difference here - one of the band members is
the brother of the person who has made the request. So, as I have told
said person I will be honest here and not give praise where I do not think it
is deserved or be too critical to be cool. I will just be honest as that
is what I think people who look at the blog deserve and what the band deserves
as well.

The Room are from the
Southeast of England; they formed in 2010 and are from the Prog rock/melodic
rock side of the world. For people that need a point of reference I would
say they have a bit of some early Genesis, Marillion, the less metal part of
Dream Theatre and Mostly Autumn. If you do not like your music in this sort of
fashion then you might not like these guys; however you would be a fool to not
listen to the band.

Firstly I would like to say
that the art work is striking. Mrs ATTIWLTMOWOS saw the cover and was
very interest which never normally happens. Musically they are going down a
path that is very heavily by prog bands of yester-years. But just because it
has a retro feeling does not mean it is not well played and actually well
produced as well. Opening with "Flesh & Bone" and ploughing
straight into the fantastic "A Casual Believer" you know exactly what
you’re going to get with this band - good honest prog music. Whilst it is
not ground breaking for the genre it is still a good example of a well
functioning band.

From beginning to the final note of "ICU" there is nothing to fault
with this band. They sound like an amazing unit who would be really good
to see live. All in all I cannot recommend this anymore higher, if you
like prog, this band is worth checking out.

8.5 out of ten - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and
heart

An artist defining
album. This is how this album was introduced to me many years ago.
Now with statements like that I tend to run away in the other direction as they
tend to be bollocks to be honest. Pink Floyd was not defined by Dark Side
of The Moon, Frank Zappa was not denied by Hot Rats, The Wildhearts were not
defined by Earth Vs The Wildhearts. They are just moments in a career, so is
Jane Doe the same for Converge or is it really the pinnacle of their collective
work?

When I first heard this album
I thought it started like a horse bolting out of the stables and then just
plodded to a slow descent into dull nothing boredom. This was the first
reaction but I ended up with the urge that would not go away that I had to listen
to it again. It tends to be a good sign when that happens. Produced by
Fred Archambalt, guitarist Kurt Ballou & vocalist Jacob Bannon this album
does still start at such a frantic pace with “Concubine" which is just an
extreme manic song, followed closely by "Fault and Fracture".
So far, so good.

But somewhere, the pace has to slacken - if only for the drummer - and there
are still some killer moments. "Homewrecker" and the 11 minute plus
title track for starters. Yet I still have a weird feeling about this
album. Yes it is well played and sound vicious, but I have a few issues
with this album. The sequencing feels disjointed, even by hardcore albums
standards. Also I do not think this is the great hardcore changing record
that everyone and their aunt define as the saviour of the genre. Even
looking back it is just a good album and they have done better before and
since.

Like the emperor’s new clothes, over rated this maybe. But it only due to
the crown that sits on its head. If you just listen to the music it is a
good album, just not the greatest album that has been rested on the shoulder.
Expectations can sometimes make for a recording's own worst enemy. As I
said before, good but not amaz-a-balls!

28 March 2013

Nu Metal was a weird little genre which took over the world for a few
weeks. The big guns were Korn, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, System of A Down,
Coal Chamber and for some reason Staind. After this, you other big hitters were
MuDvAyNe, Powerman 5000, Snot, Alien Ant Farm and finally this band - Human
Waste Project. Formed in 1993, in Europe they were loved very much,
mainly due to the way Aimee Echo looked if people were honest. They only made
one album which this blog is looking at. After seeing them so many moons ago supporting Coal Chamber in a club called The Riverside in Newcastle I feel in love with them, purchased the album and at some point over the years it got lost. I recently re-purchased the album
to see if age had improved or diminished the appeal of the music. So
let's see what the years have done for this.

Produced by Ross Robinson who seemed to produce everyone in Nu Metal at one
point or another, this album did stand apart from the run of the mill stuff
that was making the rounds. This is not just because they had a female singer;
there were a few Nu Metal bands with this type of set up. Most it was
because of the fact the music seemed to be more passionate than let's say Limp
Bizkit. The groove going through the songs is much more slower at time
and seductive than anything that any of the other Nu Metal band's could do
(with maybe the exception of System of A Down and Snot), they just seemed to be
much more going on with this record. The stand out tracks on this album
for me are "Shine", "Hold Me Down" and "Dog" -
age has not tainted this songs and they still feel as fresh as they did when
they were new.

However, and this is a big however - the album is very much of its time.
I think that the band might have had a battle on their hands with Ross Robinson
trying to get him to make the album the way they wanted. Sometimes when
it is in the lighter moments, he seems to loss his golden touch. Granted
when he puts on the heavy such as the beginning of Powerstrip is really good,
but when they get to the chorus he seems to want everything to drown. I
have heard this song live and it sounded majestic, but on the album it is
nowhere near as good. Also, on "One Night In Spain" Mr Robinson
and the band needed to get that reverb on the quieter moments sorted out. It
sound like it is coming from a tunnel full of dead kittens. The loud bits
are fine, but he cannot be quiet. It makes me wonder what the producer
Flood would have made of this band - probably made them stars, but that was not
to be. And thankfully these moments of poor production on the album are not too
often. But they do bring down the overall feel of the record.

This is still one of the biggest records from my youth that I have stayed away
from due to the fact I did not want to ruin it by being an adult (that happened
for me with the film 'The Goonies" - I am still so sad about that).
Thankfully I still think it is a good record, not a great album - but it has
still retained the charm of the original listens. To hear it you will
have to purchases it, but for people wanting to listen to a band that shined
brightly for one glorious record it might be worth the trip.
7 out of ten - This is good and
well worth a checkYou
can purchase from here

Sorry kids, no listening posts today - might be on YouTube or something like
that.

25 March 2013

Austrian
hardcore punk..... Well I will try anything once at least. Unavoidable is the
band that I am listening to at this point. Mainly because they are going
to be playing the local rock bar on the night I'm going out for my birthday so
I want to see what they sound like. From what I can gather on their
Facebook page this band has been going since 2002 and this is their debut which
was released on 2006. Apart from that there is little to nothing else I
could tell you about them. Zilch, nowt, sweet fanny adams, nil pwa!

What I can tell you about them music is that they are hardcore/punk and sing in
English. Even before I listened to the album from the images you can see
what type of band they would be. They are two speeds for Unavoidable -
fast as hell and slow break down before it goes fast again. The only
reason these guys would have heard about an acoustic guitar is from the sketch
in National Lampoon's Animal House when one is smashed against a wall. So
no ballads, nothing below 1,000,000,000,000 miles an hour and lots of shouty
chorus' and empowering messages.

Well, sort of. The music is very generic for the genre (which as a whole
has not changed much since its genesis) and you are not going to find a new
type of wheel changer here. They just put their collective foot down and
go for it. Yes, it is just one head long rush from one song to another,
yes it does not have an original bone in its body that they do not own to Sick
Of It All, yes I could sort of live without them. However, there is something
likeable about the fact they are doing what they do. They are just a good
honest hardcore band and sometimes you just need a band that excites you
without having to change the world. This album is pretty good to be
honest, ok it will not be one for the ages but it is one to get the pit
going. When these guys come down to my place near my birthday, I will be
down the pit moshing like a good 'un. Who have thought that the Austrians
would have it in them for this type of thing....

Bands are
sometimes just a little too late for the initial wave of a movement, let's look
at grunge. Bands such as Candlebox, Collective Souls, Bush, Toadies - for
whatever their achievements of success, they were not the originals - and you
can include Everclear in that list as well. Originally formed in 1992,
these guys had their biggest success in America to be honest with albums like
'Sparkle & Fade' and 'Song For An American Movie Vol 1' being their biggest
hitters. They have had a few singles in the UK top 40, but have never
really been big over in the UK, which is a shame as they were a good solid
band. Originally they had sort of split up in 2003, but singer and main songwriter
Alexis Alexakis decided to form a new version of Everclear and this is their
first fruits since 2006. It was released in America in 2012, but has just
been released in the UK to coincide with a full UK tour. So has time and
a change of line up changed the beast?

Back in the day they were a little more rocky, never exactly an aggressive
band, there was always the odd ballad/slower number which gradually increased
over the years. This album has slower feeling about it than their earlier
work, but when it has its fun hat on, it is bouncy and very good indeed.
Songs such as "I Am Better Without You" remind me of the point of
Everclear, the lyrics are all a little bit on the downsides (broken
relationships and homes), but musically they make you want to shuffle your
feet. However, for every "Falling In A Good Way", you get two slower
numbers like "Volcano" and "Rocket For The Girl". The
album length is actually perfect as it is over within 37 minutes - and like
bubble gum it is interesting for a while but it is not making plans to change
the world anytime soon.

Should this have been a solo album? Maybe, but Everclear was always about
Alex Alexakis anyway so it does not matter who he has playing with him.
Just like Billy Corgan in the Smashing Pumpkins, it is his name. Does it
do anything good or bad for the legacy or the band? Not really, it does
add another album to the collection, but it is not exactly essential. It
is decent, well played and in some places it is very good. But to be
honest I cannot really think of anything on the album which I need to hear
again. For people who want to complete the collection only.

Life of Agony can never be accused of taking the easy route, that is something that can be said for them. It could be the fact that the...

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Album scoring system

0 - This is proof there is no deity1 - You're really are touching the bottom of the barrel with this one2 - If only there was some quality control3 - It could have been a bit better4 - Well it's alright, but still......5 -Not for everyone but played well6 - Now I see where you were going, but it's not quite there7 - This is good and well worth a check8 - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and heart9 - Almost perfect....Almost10 - This is proof there is a deity(For albums that are too crazy to be marked)Crazy Cat symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Singles/EP Marking System

0 - Only to be listened to by people bless with the gift of being deaf1 - Not so much on the bad that it is bottom of the barrel, but it can see the stuff down there2 - Not bad, not good - so average it is Zen3 - Decent, getting there4 - This is really good, well worth checking out5 - I wish I had extra ears to love this more(For Singles/EPs that are too crazy to mark)Crazy Cat symbol - This release cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens